Grrr... traps

[Aerich]

Mostly due to the increased traffic on the board lately, of people making parties and going through the game, I have renewed my interest in my priestly party (IWD relegating Disciples II to the secondary option for a little while).

One thing that I'd forgotten, or never knew, is that the traps on DE lvl 5 do not disarm after they've been triggered. That poses a problem for me, because my only thief is dual classed to cleric and will not regain his thieving skills for three more levels.

This is looking difficult but not insurmountable. On the plus side, I have plenty of access to Slow Poison, Neutralize Poison, and healing spells. My saving throws are quite good, especially with Protection from Evil on the whole party. However, I did have to reload once, right at the very end of my day, because a character got hit with confusion and poison at the same time (so no antidote); I'd run out of Slow/Neutralize Poison, and he took 8 damage at a time, and died before my Heal spell took effect.

I've always made sure to have a thief character active at this part of the game before, so I'm interested in finding out how others have dealt with this. Just suck it up? Mirror Image only protects one character. Haste allows you to breeze right over top of them, but if the enemy casts Dispel, you are toast; fatigue + traps + enemies is not good. I can find the traps via spell, but I can't do anything about them. I can slip my party past one by one most of the time, however that's not an option when making a tactical retreat in combat.

I'm thinking I'll have to switch up strategies for Yuxonomei. In the past I've loaded up her doorway with Web, Grease, Glyph, Spike Growth, etc, summoned some meat shields, and thrown everything at her until she falls. That won't work with all the traps active, as the yuan-ti mages (what I get for playing on insane [img]smile.gif[/img] ) will also seriously cramp my mobility. If Y breaks through or a dispel hits, I'd be in big trouble.

I'm considering setting up my party a couple of compartments back along the passageway, where there are fewer traps. That way I can put a speed potion, free action, and mirror image on my lead character to trigger the dialogue. How persistent are the big Y and her cronies? Will they all follow me as I boot it back to my support?

Given the limitations of my party (only one character can use axes, bows, and cast mage spells; the same one, and he can't do all at once), I need to set up a killing zone and use summons. I'd prefer to use most of my spells in one go, so the enemy never gets the opportunity to go hand-to-hand with me. Considering the sheer number of spells I have (all six characters, each with at least lvl 4 spell access, the single-class druid with lvl 6 access), I may go with a preliminary trap in an earlier doorway, backed up with my offensive casters and best fighters. If the yuan-ti break through that, I could retreat to a secondary position, covered by summons from my reserves.

So again, will I be pursued all the way back to my party? It would be a pain to have to go search out Y and the yuan-ti while my spell duration ticks away.

[Spiff]

I don't remember many traps in that area, but then again I had a thief when I went through that [img]smile.gif[/img]

If your clerics are high enough level to turn some undead you could try leveling up in the expansion first, burial isle should be cake if you can turn everything. Then you can come back with a thief and disarm traps.

I remember that battle as being tough though. The two things that helped me most were to send one character in to start the dialog. Since they had quaffed an invis potion they weren't attacked and Y went down the hallway after everybody else and allowed the invisible character to harass from the rear with some of those exploding fireball potions once Y caught up with everybody else.
The other thing this did was to give me time to take out the 3 priests (or maybe mages, I forgot) that appear in the previous room. Those three can cause a lot of grief if you don't get rid of them quickly.

Maybe you can try something like that, but retreat back down the hallway to a less trapped room once the 3 priests that appear are taken care of. That will give you some time to heal and buff hopefully. You can keep tabs on Y and her gang with your invisible character so you're not in the middle of healing when they show up.

Good luck with it though, it took many quickloads for me to get past that part.

[ 08-17-2004, 02:07 PM: Message edited by: Spiff ]

[Aerich]

That area might have the highest concentration of traps in the game, but the nastiness of the traps is a greater concern. A confused and poisoned character doesn't have much hope, unless your priest(s) have the right spells memorized.

My clerics are still kinda weak for burial isle, and I want to get some cool stuff from the main game before I head to the expansion. I'm aiming to head to HoW right before Poquelin.

The invisibility potion idea is great, Spiff! I wasn't aware that you could go through the dialogue and stay invisible; I don't use invisibility very much, and I assumed that Y (otherplanar being that she is) wouldn't be fooled. But if the dialogue trigger character can stay invisible (or drink a potion right after), that should make it easier.

I haven't had to reload this fight yet, and I'm hoping I won't have to, with the right preparation and a bit of luck.

I think what I'll do is send two characters forward; the thief/cleric to trigger dialogue and stay invisible (as he's the weakest of the bunch) and the fighter/mage to take a few potshots at Y or her mages. He's probably the best at avoiding damage (Mirror Image) and is tops in mobility with Dimension Door. I can set up a bunch of glyphs in the second doorway and jump over them with DD. Hopefully the mages will follow and die of shock. ::laughs evilly::

[Spiff]

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I drank the invis potion right after the dialogue. Now I'm not sure if I had to do that or if I did it for some other reason.
Anyways, just don't count on sending an invisible person forward and them staying invisible after talking. Keep an extra potion or invisibility spell ready just in case.
Post the results though, I'm curious how your strategy will go.

[pritchke]

Use find traps, and try to remember were they are. Only a handful can't be disarmed by tripping them, and most of them you can walk around.

[ 08-18-2004, 01:55 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Aerich]

Well I had a multiple reload session to work out the bugs in my strategy. I had to change it up a bit. Will post in the "priest-heavy party" thread shortly.